The sea breeze blows and the waves splash on the deck.

In the autumn of the fifth year of the liberation, five third-class battleships, including the Daming, Lanfang, Damingshan, Ryukyu, and Joseon, and ten fourth-class warships, including the Guangdong, Guangxi, Fujian, and Jiangxi, headed north with more than 30 fifth-class ships, frigates, and armed merchant ships.

This huge fleet accounted for almost two-thirds of the Ming Navy, and the mission of going north to Tianjin this time was to escort the northern tour of the Great Emperor.

"Good, good...... Such a sailor is enough to defend all mouths of the North and South Oceans, and defend the Beijing Division! ”

On the helm platform of the Daming, Zuo Zongtang looked at the mighty fleet on the sea and smiled with his beard and looking up to the sky. Eight battleships of the third rank, fifteen battleships of the fourth rank, twenty-seven ships of the fifth rank, almost fifty frigates. Although the strength of the Ming Navy is not as good as that of Britain, France, Russia, the United States, the West and other naval powers, looking at the East Asian Sea, there is really no fleet that can compete with the Ming Navy! Even if the Western powers want to attack from thousands of miles, the Ming Navy is enough to deal with one or two.

Holding Maria. Clementina held on the railing and watched the sea view Zhu Jishi smiled: "Zuo Xiang, the navy is used to attack, and the security of the seaports in the North and South Oceans is protected by the army and batteries, and it has long been foolproof. ”

Zuo Zongtang smiled: "Attack? Your Majesty, are you going to use this fleet to attack the Ryukyus? Tokugawa Saiaki told me a few days ago that he hoped that we could help Japan build a navy and use the Sino-Japanese combined fleet to collect the Ryukyus in the future. ”

"There are so many places to attack!" Zhu Jishi smiled and said, "Now we have planted flags and built strongholds on many islands in the Pacific Ocean, and we have also established two cities in New Guinea...... This is all thanks to the Navy. In the future war against Russia, there will definitely be a time for the Navy to exert its might. ”

He paused. And he said: "The Japanese want to build a navy, right?" When Tokugawa arrives in Beijing and Chengde, I will talk to him in person...... This navy is a money-throwing deal. How much does they have in Japan? Is it affordable? ”

Xue Dingyue got on the helm. The commander of the Nanyang Fleet of the Ming Navy, who was born as a pirate, was "forcibly" sent by Zhu Jishi to the Naval Academy on Changzhou Island in the past two years, and was taught a naval officer course by British and French instructors from beginning to end, and even his temperament was very different. He wore a neat tweed admiral's uniform, shiny leather shoes on his feet, a tricorne hat on his head, a beard trimmed into a French figure-of-eight, and a pipe in his mouth. Seeing the emperor, he raised his hand and saluted: "Report to Your Majesty, the fleet will soon enter the Bohai Sea." You can reach Tianjin Dagu Port this afternoon. ”

Zhu Jishi nodded and said to Maria with a smile: "Maria, let's spend the night in Tianjin New Town tonight." Tianjin is a charming city, and it is also known as the Paris of the East. ”

Maria frowned: "Your Majesty, are you sure this is a good reputation?" ”

Tianjin New Town is the original Tianjin Concession. After Emperor Zhu obtained Zhili, he held negotiations with the British to "establish a free city of Tianjin". Finally, an agreement was reached to establish a "Sino-British" free city in and around the port of Dagu in Tianjin, with a low tariff and free trade policy that was different from that of other parts of the Ming Dynasty, and the implementation of city autonomy. British expatriates residing in Tianjin are elected by the citizens of the Free City of Tianjin (who have reached a certain amount of tax) to elect the City Self-Government Committee and the Mayor. As long as they meet the conditions (tax payment), they also have the same voting rights as Ming subjects, and they can also hold public office in the Tianjin Free City Government.

It is obviously not very dignified to recover the Tianjin concession in this way. However, the British made concessions on the issue of the Arthur Concession, agreed to the Ming Dynasty's recovery of sovereignty, and agreed to negotiate with the Ming Dynasty on the establishment of a "Hong Kong-Kowloon Free City". So it was worth paying a certain price, and at the same time, this free city of Tianjin also became a window for Ming officials to learn Western city management.

Zuo Zongtang frowned: "There are foreign soldiers in Tianjin. ”

Zhu Jishi said: "There is only a garrison of less than 1,000 people, and my Ming garrison in Tianjin has a whole division." ”

Zuo Zongtang's dissatisfaction is a portrayal of the international status of the Ming Dynasty. Although it is stronger than the Qing Empire in history, Emperor Zhu still does not dare to confront the British Empire with cowhides, and he must also try his best to have good relations with France, which is the second largest in the world, - and expect to clean up the Russians with them!

This is also the core of Zhu Jishi's foreign policy: treating European and American powers differently, liaising with Britain and France, opposing Russia, and paying attention to the United States...... In Emperor Zhu's view, the countries that may pose a threat to the Ming Dynasty in the future are Russia and the United States. Britain and France, the great powers with small territories and small populations and large colonies, will be top-heavy sooner or later. Daming just needs to wait patiently and immigrate to Australia as much as possible.

……

As Zhu Jishi said, Tianjin Free City is indeed a charming new city, but it is much cleaner than Paris, and unlike Shanghai, a new city in the south, there is not much shadow of industrialization here, except for a railway under construction, and it is completely based on the free port of commerce. After several years of development, Tianjin is now full of Chinese and foreign merchants, and has the benefits of the fishing and salt industry in Bohai Bay, and has become the richest big city in the north.

When he stepped off the battleship Daming, Zhu Jishi saw the feathers on a big hat dancing in the wind. Waiting for Zhu Jishi's arrival on the dock were hundreds of British lobster soldiers and 2,000 officers and soldiers of the 118th Regiment of the 40th Division of the Ming Army.

These British lobster soldiers were transferred from India, and they were very satisfied with the climate and life in Tianjin, and they actually didn't like the Ming Army stationed in the same place with them. Because this new army, which is not too elite in gray uniforms, always reminds them of the Tsar's "gray cattle", but their weapons and equipment are better than the Tsar's army, almost in the same era as the British and French armies.

Zhu Jishi wore a large-brimmed hat of the Ming Army, a gray military coat, and a command knife to hold the Imperial Concubine Maria in a Western-style skirt, and waved to his soldiers frequently in the sound of long live in the mountains. A crowd of Chinese and foreign journalists, municipal officials and celebrities from Tianjin also flocked to the pier, waiting to hear the words of His Majesty the Emperor.

Zhu Jishi strode up to his "gray cattle", and Emperor Zhu was generally satisfied with the military appearance and morale they showed today. The British Empire only had more than 60,000 troops, while the Ming had 780,000 troops! As a land power, it is impossible for the Ming Dynasty to take a completely elite route.

"Take a break!" Zhu Jishi stood up straight and solemnly saluted them. With a bang, the soldiers neatly put away their guns and rested. Zhu Jishi looked slightly excited. He said loudly: "Officers and soldiers of the Ming Army, you are the pride and savior of the 40,000,000 Han people in the world!" Four years of conquest, thousands of miles to war, expelled Hulu from the land of our Han people, subdued and disabled them, restored our Han family, you are all heroes of the Ming Dynasty, heroes of the Han people in the world!

However, Hu Lu has not yet given up, and is still accumulating strength in Mongolia in the north and Hexi and Qinghai in the west, preparing to fight back in a vain attempt to restore their colonial rule! Ai Xin Jueluo. Yi Xin has already played the sign of the Mongolian Boktor Khan, and his elder brother Aixin Jueluo. Yi Su played the brand of the Qing Emperor in Xining, and this Manchu Qing Dynasty is really ghostly! As far as I know, they have gathered hundreds of thousands of troops, and they have the support of Russia! But I'm not afraid! Even if Tsarist Russia wants to send troops to intervene, I am determined to completely recover Mongolia and the Western Regions, and plant the sun, moon and bright flags in every corner of my Ming Dynasty! I will fight together for the future peace and prosperity of the Ming Dynasty! ”

As soon as the words came out, the whole wharf was silent, only to see that the reporters on the wharf were flying like a pen, recording Zhu Jishi's words in a small notebook, which would soon be published in Chinese and English newspapers, and at most half a year, the big figures of the whole Europe would also see this speech in the report materials of their respective ambassadors to China. (To be continued......)